nativescript-localize

This is a plugin for NativeScript that implements internationalization (i18n) using the native capabilities of each platform. It is inspired from nativescript-i18n

Table of contents

• Installation
• Usage
  • Angular
  • Javascript
  • Vue
• File format
• Frequently asked questions
  • How to set the default language?
  • How to localize the application name?
  • How to localize iOS properties?
  • How to change the language dynamically at runtime?
• Troubleshooting
  • The angular localization pipe does not work when in a modal context

Installation

tns plugin add nativescript-localize

Usage

Create a folder i18n in the app folder with the following structure:

app
  | i18n
      | en.json           <-- english language
      | fr.default.json   <-- french language (default)
      | es.js

You need to set the default langage and make sure it contains the application name to avoid any error.

Angular

app.module.ts

import { NgModule, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA } from "@angular/core";
import { NativeScriptLocalizeModule } from "nativescript-localize/angular";
import { NativeScriptModule } from "nativescript-angular/nativescript.module";

import { AppComponent } from "./app.component";

@NgModule({
  declarations: [AppComponent],
  bootstrap: [AppComponent],
  imports: [
    NativeScriptModule,
    NativeScriptLocalizeModule
  ],
  schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]
})
export class AppModule { }

Template

<Label text="{{ 'Hello world !' | L }}"></Label>
<Label text="{{ 'I am %s' | L:'user name' }}"></Label>

Script

import { localize } from "nativescript-localize";

console.log(localize("Hello world !"));

Javascript

app.js

const application = require("application");
const localize = require("nativescript-localize");
application.setResources({ L: localize });

Template

<Label text="{{ L('Hello world !') }}"></Label>
<Label text="{{ L('I am %s', 'user name') }}"></Label>

Script

const localize = require("nativescript-localize");

console.log(localize("Hello world !"));

Vue

main.js

import { localize } from "nativescript-localize";

Vue.filter("L", localize);

Template

<Label :text="'Hello world !'|L"></Label>
<Label :text="'I am %s'|L('user name')"></Label>

vue-cli-template

The localization files placed under dist/app/i18n/* must be cleaned since they're not correctly updated when modified. To do so, you can run the command rm dist/app/i18n/*.

File format

Each file is imported using require, use the file format of your choice:

JSON

{
  "app.name": "My app",
  "ios.info.plist": {
    "NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription": "This will be added to InfoPlist.strings"
  },
  "user": {
    "name": "user.name",
    "email": "user.email"
  },
  "array": [
    "split the translation into ",
    "multiples lines"
  ],
  "sprintf": "format me %s",
  "sprintf with numbered placeholders": "format me %2$s one more time %1$s"
}

Javascript

const i18n = {
  "app.name": "My app"
};

module.exports = i18n;

Frequently asked questions

How to set the default language?

Add the .default extension to the default language file to set it as the fallback language:

fr.default.json

How to localize the application name?

The app.name key is used to localize the application name:

{
  "app.name": "My app"
}

How to localize iOS properties?

Keys starting with ios.info.plist. are used to localize iOS properties:

{
  "ios.info.plist.NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription": "This will be added to InfoPlist.strings"
}

How to change the language dynamically at runtime?

This plugin uses the native capabilities of each platform, language selection is therefore made by the OS. There is no plan to implement this feature in the near future.

Troubleshooting

The angular localization pipe does not work when in a modal context

As a workaround, you can trigger a change detection from within your component constructor:

constructor(
  private readonly params: ModalDialogParams,
  private readonly changeDetectorRef: ChangeDetectorRef,
) {
  setTimeout(() => this.changeDetectorRef.detectChanges(), 0);
}

Starting from Android N, there is a weird side effect while using a WebView.

For unknown reasons, the very first creation of it resets the application locale to the device default. Therefore, you have to set the desired locale back. This is native bug and the workaround is

 <WebView url="https://someurl.com" @loaded="webViewLoaded"/>

import {overrideLocale, androidLaunchEventLocalizationHandler} from "nativescript-localize/localize";
import {getString} from '@nativescript/core/application-settings';
const locale = getString('__app__language__')

function webViewLoaded(){
    overrideLocale(locale)
    androidLaunchEventLocalizationHandler()
}